This is one awesome picture, one of my favorites, but i have some questions about it. The Thrust reversers are deployed before the aircraft has even touched down, which is something i can't recall seeing before, is this normal? Also I noticed that the slats are extended while the spoilers are up, doesn't this completely defeat the purpose of having the slats up in the first place?(forgive me if this is a moronic question, my knowledge of wing control surfaces is fairly limited)

Hi there VS340,
The thrust reversers are locked and cannot be deployed until the main undercarriage has touched the ground- in the photo shown, the main gear is on the ground and the nosegear is just coming down. The spoilers on the airbus aircraft deploy (when set to 'armed') when the main landing gear touchdown.

Slats work in a way to increase the surface of a wing (like trailing edge flaps), creating more lift at slower speeds, they remain extended until the flaps are retracted (as they are extended with the same lever- Flaps lever) On the 747, the Slats retract when thrust reversers are deployed to prevent damage to them.

slat open when flaps are deployed. reversers are openned when the main gear touches the runway. [most of the time, see pic below] some piots also leave reversers deployed during taxi after landing to save thier wheel brakes. spoilers are openned ofter touchdown to help slow the aircraft or at time to get it to contact the runway sooner. in those instances, the spoilers would be openned in the flare, causing the aircraft to lose speed and settle onto the runway. they are also used inflight to slow down.